PULSE Marina Albi: "Think about what you eat! "

By killing, a person suppresses his capacity for higher spiritual growth, and compassion for other living beings, and by suppressing his own feelings, he becomes cruel and brutal.  Lev Tolstoy

For over 30 years now, I have heard everything you can imagine from meat-eaters who consider my choice of vegetarianism to be everything from cute, silly, stupid to even dangerous.  In the past I would just smile weakly and use the same standard answers to the same stupid questions or comments.  But this is a thing of the past.  No, it is not true that all vegetarians are pasty faced and weak-spined hippies with bad teeth.  Just look at me!  Look at my daughter!  And look at all of my beautiful, healthy, happy vegetarian friends!  Actually, now, I do not want to convince anyone.  People must choose for themselves what they want to eat.  But I do believe that there is a lack of information out there about health and diet, partly because of the meat and alcohol lobby, and partly because people just have no clue.

But as they say, ignorance is bliss, so if you are a faint hearted meat eater, read no further.  If you are brave, brace yourself, because it’s no more Mr. Nice Guy.

There are three parts of our being:  the animal, the intellect, and intuition.  Our diet and our lifestyle can strengthen these various parts of us.   The animal really means our basic survival functions, instinct, and physical dimensions.  The intellect is facts, facts, facts, and getting our daily jobs done.  Intuition can also be called Divine Intelligence if you are religious, or we can leave it at intuition.  I believe, as a Botanist, that most people are like flowers, they are rooted in the ground and stretch toward the light in the hope of blossoming and showing their true beauty to the world.  Sometimes they are stunted in this process.  The proper diet and lifestyle can cure almost any illness at any time in a person’s life.  I have personally seen this many times, too many to leave any doubt in my mind.

For you animal-types, you probably have stopped reading by now and are on your way to grab a beer and a burger, so for the rest of you here’s food for your intellect:

Fun Facts:

Meat is poison.  All meat-eaters have short intestines so that the meat will pass quickly through them.  When humans eat meat it putrefies in the intestine.  That’s why alcohol and meat go together…you need the vodka to kill the germs from the shashlik.  The only exception to this rule is if there is nothing else to eat like during the Ice Age, or if you happen to be an Eskimo, etc. If you are very active, you can work out the poisons to some degree. Meat-eaters don’t have pores like we do, they stick out their tongues and breathe heavily in order to cool off.  Carnivores have long teeth and claws for holding and killing.  Vegetarians have short teeth and no claws.

Meat and alcohol make people more aggressive.  In ancient India and other cultures, meat and alcohol were given to soldiers to make them more warlike.

Keeping animals in cages and in poor conditions is not civilized behavior. 

The number one killer disease in the world is heart disease.  The risk factors for this illness are meat eating, alcohol, smoking, stress and a sedentary lifestyle.

The University of Oxford recently publish a study proving that meat eating ups the risk of prostate cancer.

The Guardian newspaper recently published the results of another medical study confirming that vegetarians are less likely to develop cancer in general than meat –eaters.

Vegetarians are less likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s or other degenerative brain disorders.

Vegetarians have higher IQs than meat eaters, fewer doctor visits, fewer dental problems.

Last month, the UN Climate Chief says that 18% of greenhouse gases come from the meat industry (more than transport at 13%)

We can eliminate hunger completely and stop many of the world environmental problems by reducing or eliminating the meat industry.

Food is of three types and relates to three conditions of Spirit and Mind:

1) Ignorance—meat, processed, heavy, old, putrid, burnt, toxic, chemical, etc.

2) Passion --coffee, chocolate, black tea, spicy spicy spicy things, hot things, garlic and onions, etc.

 3) Goodness--foods that lead to greater intellectual, spiritual and physical strength----all seasonal fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and for most people, milk products that are hormone and rennet free, herbs, spices, green tea and herb teas

These foods should be produced as close to you as possible, and they are fresh, fragrant and eaten soon after preparing.  These foods represent and increase; harmony, cleanliness, beauty, simplicity, optimism, kindness, knowledge, clean love, concentration and effectiveness.

In general, be sensible, you can regulate your balance by adding certain foods or spices.  In the winter you need warmer food, in summer, more raw and cold food.  It is common sense. Don’t eat too late.  And don’t worry about bad habits.  If you start a new diet gradually, you will see that your bad habits soon start to quit you.  They can’t stick around such a healthy guy. 

Buy a cookbook.  Come to Café Botanika and try everything.  Stay tuned for our cookbook and updated site with recipes!  Be healthy and devote yourself to living without ignorance…reach toward the light!